


Looking for Salvation in the Secular Age (Theyre Just Girls)

by Nutella_enthusiast



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, There will prob be smut eventually, This doesn't really have a plot sorry, just a bunch of fluffy bits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-30
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-19 10:52:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2385731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutella_enthusiast/pseuds/Nutella_enthusiast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alby likes girls.<br/>Newt just likes Alby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It starts at the bonfire, like so many other things do. The new greenbean - Winston, Newt thinks he said - is sitting by Gally and staring at the fire, tossing pebbles into it occasionally and not talking much, but at least he's doing better than the greenie from last month, who had actually tried to throw himself into the fire when they lit it, and had to be restrained by Gally and Alby for almost half an hour before he finally calmed down. Ben and Minho are sitting off by themselves, talking about the maze no doubt, and most of the rest of the Gladers are gathered around Frypan, who's telling a story that Newt can't hear from where he's sitting, but must be pretty funny, considering how hard the boys around him are laughing. He's considering getting up to join them when Alby flops down next to him, laying back across the log he's sitting on and resting his head in Newt's lap without so much as a hello.

"Hey shank," says Newt, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "What's going on?"

Alby shrugs as much as he can from the position he's in, back of his head rested on Newt's thigh. Newt knows Alby well enough by now to know that means he knows exactly what's going on, but he's just not sure how to put it into words yet. Newt takes that as his cue to start talking, carding one hand through Alby's coarse curls, knowing Alby will stop him once he figures out what he wants to say.

"Your hair's getting pretty long," says Newt, tugging at the ends gently. Alby lets out a pleased sounding "hmm," but knowing Alby, it could mean anything. "We should probably find those scissors the creators sent up soon."

"Yeah," mutters Alby, eyes fluttering closed, and Newt's not sure if he's actually listening, but he keeps talking anyways.

"'Course, it's not like anyone here actually knows how to cut hair. Maybe that can be the new Greenie's job, yeah?"

"Yeah," says Alby again, not opening his eyes. Newt is ready to continue when Alby opens his eyes again and takes a deep breath. "We've been here what, a year?" he asks, and Newt knows that Alby knows the answer to his question already, but he replies anyways.

"Day 382, yeah?"

"Yeah," says Alby, reaching up and pulling Newt's hand from his hair, and holding it in front of his face instead, playing idly with his fingers. "Have you ever thought how weird it is that they haven't sent any girls?"

Newt hasn't thought about it. In fact, he's having trouble remembering thinking about girls at all since he came up in the box 352 days before. He thinks he heard Gally tell Ben to stop acting like a girl at some point a few months ago, but besides that, he's got nothing.

"Not really," says Newt, lifting his other hand to run his fingers through Alby's hair again, reveling in the feeling of the coarse hair under his fingertips, Alby still staring at his other hand like he holds the secrets to the universe in the lines of his palm. "Maybe they've got another maze full of girls or something."

"Yeah," says Alby, letting go of Newt's hand and closing his eyes again, lacing his fingers together and resting his hands on his chest. Newt goes back to playing with Alby's hair, and the two of them sit there in silence for a few moments before Alby speaks again.

"I miss them. Girls I mean."

"But... You can't even remember them," says Newt, a little puzzled. He's not really sure why anyone would miss girls, with their too soft skin and too high, too sweet voices. He's sure he wouldn't mind having them around, but the idea of really missing them seems ridiculous to him - almost comical.

"Well I don't remember any specific ones," says Alby, looking up at Newt through his eyelashes. "But I remember they were soft, and they smelled nice, and it felt nice when they would touch me, or hold me, you know?"

Newt thinks that's the closest to sensitive that Alby's ever gotten around him, and he's not really sure how to react. Finally, he gives in to the smile forcing its way onto his mouth, and puts one of his hands over Alby's. "Well bloody hell, I'll hold you, shuckface."

Alby's face splits into a grin too, and he pushes himself back into a sitting position. "Shut up, ya slinthead," he says, hitting Newt lightly on the shoulder. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," says Newt, even though he doesn't. "I know what you mean."

"I'm gonna go to bed," says Alby, pushing himself to his feet. "You coming?"

"Yeah," says Newt again. "Yeah, just a second."

Newt's sure that's the end of it, that it's just one of those conversations that they'll have, and maybe laugh about in a few days, and then forget about.

He's sure of it, and yet twenty minutes later, he's laying on his bedroll right next to Alby, shoulders brushing just like they always do, trying to put it out of his mind, when Alby actually brings it up again.

"So," he whispers, even though there's no one else in the room. "You gonna keep your promise or what?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean, if you me want to," says Newt, rolling onto his side so he's facing Alby. Alby grabs Newt's hand, pulling his arm tightly around his waist as he rolls onto his side too.

"Good that," mutters Alby, eyes fluttering closed, a sleepy smile on his face. And as Newt begins to feel sleep overtaking him, his face buried in his best friend's shoulder, Alby's back warm and comforting against his chest, he can feel a smile spreading across his face too.

For the first time since Newt arrived at the glade, 352 - well, 353 now - days previously, he sleeps peacefully through the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> casually disregards canon and makes up rules for how their memory wipes work myself

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

They're back at their spot by the bonfire, Newt once again playing with Alby's hair, which they still haven't gotten around to cutting, when Alby asks the question. Newt's fingers freeze for a moment, and Alby opens his eyes, looking up at Newt, who's looking into the fire thoughtfully. Because Newt remembers kissing, remembers the feeling of large, warm hands on the small of his back and teeth nipping at his lower lip, and a hard, muscled chest pressed against his own. But Alby hadn't asked if Newt had ever kissed someone, he asked if Newt had ever kissed a girl, so Newt tells him the truth - or at least, as much of it as he asked for.

"No, I've never kissed a girl. Have you?"

"Yeah," says Alby, but his eyebrows are pushed together, as if he's trying very hard to remember where and when. Newt's made that expression enough times himself, and he knows it won't do any good, but he lets Alby think about it anyways. "Yeah, a long time ago. I don't really remember what it was like though."

"Want me to refresh your memory?" asks Newt, wiggling his eyebrows jokingly.

"Shut up, shank," scoffs Alby quietly, but he's got a thoughtful look on his face as he turns back towards the fire. Newt wonders if he said something wrong, but Alby doesn't say anything else for the rest of the bonfire, and Newt doesn't ask.

*******

"So," says Newt, once they've gotten ready for bed and are just about to get into their sleeping bags. "You want to be the big spoon tonight?"

He expects Alby to tell him to shut up, because apparently they're only allowed to talk about whatever it is that they're doing when they're at the bonfire, but he doesn't. He doesn't say anything. Instead, he leans forward, and kisses Newt gently, barely more than a brush of lips. Even so, Newt feels a flutter of something he doesn't quite recognize somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

"What was that for?"

Alby shrugs. "I wanted to. Did you mind?"

Newt smiles and grabs onto the front of Alby's shirt, pulling him close again. "Not even a little."

He's not even sure who initiates the kiss this time, but as they fall back on top their sleeping bags, holding each other close to stay warm instead of actually getting inside them, neither of them makes a move to stop it. They kiss softly until late into the night - until they finally fall asleep, limbs still tangled together.

Newt wakes early the next morning to the sight of sunlight streaming through the window, lighting up Alby's skin, the color of the coffee that Frypan makes every morning. He presses one last lingering kiss against Alby's temple and lets his eyes flutter closed again. He's got a few more hours before breakfast, and he plans on taking advantage of every minute of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this was supposed to just be stupid fluffy drabbles and then plot and angst started happening  
> I'm gonna try to keep it as angst free as possible after this  
> And start making the chapters reasonable lengths whoops

Not much changes in the next few days. They simply start adding soft kisses to their late night conversations. But as the next few days slowly turn into a week, and then two, Alby's hand starts lingering on the small of Newt's back for just a beat too long, and Newt starts brushing his fingers against Alby's gently as they walk around the glade, side by side. They'll slip away between breakfast and work time to share a few more kisses, and before Newt knows it, the thought of his evenings spent with Alby are the only thing getting him through the day.

The first time things really change though, is a few weeks after the kisses start. It's right before the maze closes for the night, and Alby and Newt are hidden away somewhere behind the homestead, Newt's back pressed to the wall, fingers tangled in Alby's too long hair, chests pressed together, kissing desperately because they know they've only got five minutes at most before Minho comes skidding around the corner demanding dinner. It's right then when everything they've built up comes crashing down around them.

"You've gotta be shucking kidding me!"

Newt pulls away from Alby so quickly that he hits the back of his head against the wall behind him with a dull thump. Alby jumps backwards too, leaving a cold, empty space where he'd been standing just moment before, and Newt shivers. "It's, uh, not what it looks like?" he tries, grinning sheepishly.

Gally rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. "Like hell it isn't."

"Okay, it's kind of what it looks like," says Newt with a laugh, running one hand through his messy hair in an attempt to at least sort of flatten it out. "But it's not like - we're just - you know?"

"Yeah, sure," says Gally. "Just try not to do it right next to where we sleep, alright?"

"Good that," says Newt, grinning.

Gally says nothing, just rolls his eyes again and reaches for the door into the homestead.

"Gally?" says Alby, the first word he's said since before they'd started their feverish kissing against the wall. "Can you not tell anyone about this?"

Gally crosses his arms over his chest again, looking from Alby to Newt and back, and then shrugs. "Whatever. Can I go inside now?"

Alby takes a step away from the door. "Yeah, go ahead."

Once Gally's closed the door behind him, Newt turns back to Alby. "You know, we've still got a few more minutes," he says, wiggling his eyebrows and smirking. He doesn't expect Alby to actually do anything, but he can't really complain when he grabs Newt by the front of the shirt and hauls him forward, kissing him hard. Alby's kissed him a lot in the last few weeks, but never like this, all sharp teeth nipping at his bottom lip and desperate hands pulling their chests tight together like he's trying to prove something. Newt can't help but let out a gasp, his hands flying back up to clutch at Alby's hair. As soon as it's started though, it's ending, and Alby is pulling away, pupils wide and breathing heavily.

"I have to go," he says, pushing himself away so quickly that Newt swears he feels a breeze. "I'll just... I'll see you at dinner."

Newt just stands there, not sure what else to do, as Alby turns on his heel, not running, but walking so fast he may as well have been, head held high, fists clenched at his sides.

He goes to dinner, not sure what else to do, but even though he waits at the table until long after everyone's dishes have been cleared away, Alby never shows up.


End file.
